After the sales of their third album 'Magazine' were disappointing, Heart bounced back with their fourth one, 'Dog & Butterfly'. The album reached number 17 on the US albums chart.
Here's another one of those Amiga Quartett EP's. Following her success in the Western part of Germany, the state-run record company of Eastern Germany decided to release this EP with four of her biggest hits. Judging from the cover, the single was released around the same time as Sandra's compilation album 'Ten on one'. As usual, the disc and the sleeve of this release do not state any year of manufacture.
'Super trouper' is a name for gigantic spotlights used in stadium concerts and such. While Abba were never fond of performing live, the lyric seems to suggest that they 'feel like a number one' when they perform live. But in typical Abba style, the happy and upbeat song hides a darker and sadder subtext.
On my birthday in 1990 I bought the album 'Happiness' by the Beloved. It's one of the most uplifting, positive and beautiful albums in my collection. Despite the fact that it's a dance-oriented work, the lyrics are intelligent, the music is beautiful and the rhythms are never overwhelming.
Fat Larry's Band was formed by 'Fat' Larry James (August 2, 1949 - December 5, 1987). He recruited Art Capehart, Doug Jones, Jimmy Lee, Ted Cohen, Darryl Grant, Larry La Bes and Erskine Williams to form his band. They performed R&B and funk tracks between 1977 and 1987. The band folded when its founder died.
'It doesn't have to be' was released as the second single from Erasure's second album 'The circus' (1987). Written by the band members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, the track features Clarke's signature synthesizer programming along with a prominent acoustic guitar. Bell's lyrics touch upon patching up an argument between two people in a relationship.
Paul Mazzolini was born on February 18, 1960 in Beirut, Libanon as the son of an Italian diplomat and an American singer. He learned to play the guitar at 10 to impress a girl in his class.
F.R. David was born as Eli Robert Fitoussi on January 1, 1947 in Menzel Bourguiba, Tunisia.During the Seventies, he was a member of the French rock band Les Variations. After this, he went solo, always wearing his trademark sunglasses and a white Fender Stratocaster guitar.
'Your latest trick' is a track from the classic Dire Straits album 'Brothers in arms'. It was released as a single in the UK, with all the royalties from the sale of the record donated to 'the hospitals for sick children'. Whether this helped a lot remains to be seen: the single peaked at number 26 in the UK singles chart, with only six weeks in the chart not one of the band's biggest hits.
Michael Jackson recorded 'Blood on the dancefloor' in 1991, during the sessions for his eighth album 'Dangerous'. The song was written by Michael Jackosn, but producer Teddy Riley came up with the title. It failed to make the final track listing of the album, but in 1997 it became the title track of Jackson's remix album, released after the double album 'History'.
Around 1990 it happened regularly that I spotted a music video on one of the music channels (MTV Europe or Super Channel, the two that were most popular back then) and decided right away to buy the single. I happened by some interesting tracks that way.
After ending his seven year relationship with Carol Ann Harris, Lindsey Buckingham released his second solo album 'Go insane'. The title track was released as a single, with a rather interesting music video to promote it.
Beverley Craven's later work would be the housewife's wet dream, as the lyrics were all about homely subjects: period pains, faithful wifes and of course... children. However, her second single 'Joey', which was still quite listenable, was an early sign of this danger: the song was about her dog.
The biggest hit by Fischer Z was 'The worker'. It peaked at number 53 in the UK singles chart and number 20 in the Dutch Top 40. The song was remixed for the single, putting the emphasis on the keyboard parts instead of the bass and guitar parts.
'Wouldn't it be good' was released as the second single from Nik Kershaw's debut album 'Human racing' (1984). The single peaked at number 4 in the UK singles chart. In the Netherlands, the single reached number 24.
In 1988, the Dutch government launched an advertising campaign to stimulate the use of condoms. This was in the time when Aids was a relatively new phenomenon and safe sex was considered to be the only way to avoid an almost certain death. The campaign used the image of a bee and a flower, which was considered, shortly thereafter, a stupid move.
Marc Almond recorded a cover version of David McWilliams' 1967 single 'The days of Pearly Spencer' on his 1992 album 'Tenement Symphony'. Unlike the original, this became a top 10 hit for Almond, peaking at number 4 in the UK singles chart. It would also prove to be Almond's last top 10 hit in the UK.
David McWilliams was born on July 4, 1945. He recorded his first single in 1966 and recorded three albums in two years. All three albums managed to reach the lower regions of the UK albums chart, but single success never followed.
'Master Blaster (Jammin')' was released by Stevie Wonder in 1980, taken from his album 'Hotter than July'. The song, built on a heavy reggae rhythm, was an ode to reggae legend Bob Marley. Wonder had been performing with Marley a few times in concerts (and actually billed him as an opening act) on his US tour in the fall of the year.
'This corrosion' was the first single from the Sisters of Mercy's 1987 album 'Floodland'. The song was written by Andrew Eldritch. The lyric concerns the leaving of band members to form a new band, The Mission.
